Munich-On-The Hill Of Vankleek

I was attracted to this “Farm Table” offering from the innovative and ambitious Beau’s Brewing Co. due to the fact frankly that the beer is not an obscure or laboured style as it were (beers dosed with coffee, cocoa, hot peppers, ginger, Thai spice or other things I find generally don’t add much and often take away from what beer should be).

This is labeled as “helles lager”, a classic Bavarian type of beer of which numerous brands are available as imports at LCBO. I was much impressed with the fidelity of the beer – it tastes very similar to Jever, Warsteiner, Konigsberg and other German blonde lagers. It is dry for a helles but the style has become so in Germany too in recent decades (it used to be sweeter and richer). The beer has the classic oniony yeasty note, a lager fermentation flavour that many helles and pils beers have. It tastes exactly like many beers I had on my trip to Munich a few years ago, and similar to numerous canned imports of this style when fresh.

I won’t say it’s my favourite style but I enjoyed the bottle for the exact mirror Beau has offered of what good beer often is like in the homeland of the style.

Now Beau, can you do an exact clone of a great English bitter, say with two-row floor-malted English malt, no or just a little sugar and lotsa Kent hops? I’m there.